Album · Simple Minds
Once Upon a Time by Simple Minds
Once Upon a Time is an album by Simple Minds, released in 1985. 3 songs from it have charted on rock radio countdowns, with 84 countdown appearances in total. The biggest is “Alive and Kicking”, on 46 lists and voted number one once.
Once Upon a Time, Simple Minds' seventh studio album, came out on Virgin on 21 October 1985 (A&M had it in America), and it's the sound of a Scottish band throwing the windows open and aiming for the back row of the biggest hall in town. Jimmy Iovine produced, and the result gleams: pop rock with its chest puffed out and every chorus polished to a shine.
Jim Kerr sings like a preacher on a hilltop, Charlie Burchill's guitar rings out in long arcs, Michael MacNeil's keyboards pile up like storm clouds, and Mel Gaynor thumps the drums hard enough to rattle the rafters, with Robin Clark's voice soaring alongside Kerr's. "Alive and Kicking" is the big-hearted anthem, "Sanctify Yourself" struts and stomps, "All the Things She Said" shimmers, and "Ghost Dancing" rounded out the singles.
It went to number one on the UK Albums Chart and got as high as No. 10 on the Billboard 200 in America.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs from Once Upon a Time on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alive and Kicking | 46 | #1 | 1 | 1985–2025 | |
| 2 | All The Things She Said | 18 | #69 | – | 1986–2014 | |
| 3 | Sanctify Yourself | 20 | #4 | – | 1985–2021 |
Only songs that appear on at least one countdown are listed. Release data from MusicBrainz.